Pharmaceutical Sciences ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 4-12-2021

Abstract

Status epilepticus (SE) is a type of medical emergency. It occurs when a person has a single seizure lasting more than 5 minutes or multiple seizures within a five-minute timeframe without a return to normal function in between. The specific aims of this research include identifying and describing characteristics associated with all-cause non-elective 30-day readmissions for US adult (>18 years) patients following a SE index hospitalization. The costs of the index visit, readmission, and cumulative costs are also described, and characteristics statistically significantly associated with changes in costs reported. This research uses the 2017 National Readmission Database (NRD) from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The NRD is a nationally representative, weighted dataset designed for use in US readmission studies. The Elixhauser Comorbidity Index Readmission Score was used to assess each patient’s chronic and acute health burden. Within the NRD sample, 3,218 patients had a non-elective readmission within 30-days of discharge from the index visit. Comorbidities were common within the sample, with an average Elixhauser score of 20.63 (SEM: 0.16). The weighted adjusted logistic regression results indicate numerous characteristics are associated with readmission, including older age (aOR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.65 – 0.82), intractable epilepsy at the index visit (aOR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.03 – 1.29), leaving the index visit against medical advice (aOR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.15 – 1.74), comorbidity score (aOR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.01), and having an index visit of 8+ days (aOR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.42 – 2.01).

Fourth Committee Member

Diana Gonzales-Pacheco

Fifth Committee Member

Ludmila Bakhireva

First Committee Member (Chair)

Matthew Borrego, PhD

Degree Name

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Second Committee Member

Berry Bleske

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Third Committee Member

Mikiko Takeda

Department Name

College of Pharmacy

Document Type

Dissertation

Keywords

status epilepticus, seizures, hospital readmission, NRD, comorbidities, Elixhauser Comorbidity Score

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